


The Last Person On Earth

by HeartHarps



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Episode: e060-066 The Stolen Century Parts 1-7, Fantasy Weed, M/M, dancing nimbly around canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-11
Updated: 2019-08-11
Packaged: 2020-08-19 12:44:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,685
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20209966
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HeartHarps/pseuds/HeartHarps
Summary: "No! Ugh, I wouldn't fuck Magnus if he was thelastperson on earth."





	The Last Person On Earth

**Author's Note:**

> Hi there! There's a hundred other things I should be writing but I just binged Balance and I was very inspired. This is just something cute I wrote to process a lot of thoughts and feelings!!
> 
> This is a high emotion, low action story. It takes place during the stolen century and beware, it jumps around between cycles.
> 
> Enjoy the show!

_ Cycle 7 _

Taako eyed the confusing contraption that the locals of this world liked to smoke a peculiar blue herb out of, as Magnus' thick hands almost snapped one of the delicate appendages clean off. 

"Be careful!" Taako shouted, feeling his body lean towards Magnus. "Don't ruin Lance's handiwork!" Even though his brain—and his entire body, actually—was rippling with a static haze from the drug, he could remember the lovely person who had sold them the weird giant pipe.

Magnus and Lup  _ shhhhh _ ed Taako violently. They weren't supposed to smoke on the ship, and their perch on the roof was closer to Davenport's sleeping quarters than they liked.

Taako tried to press his mouth shut but ending up sputtering out a bout of giggles, too lost in his own head and his own laughter to even notice when Magnus and Lup started laughing with him. Lup's eyelids were starting to droop. Magnus was slouched a bit, relaxed, with his hands holding still around the contraption. 

Taako wasn't even thinking, just found himself shuffling his crossed legs closer to Magnus and taking the pipe out of his hands. He held it up close to Magnus' face. He was staring at Taako. Just to show off, Taako snapped to make a small flame appear and held it to the herb.

Taako watched Magnus put his mouth overtop the large hole and breathe. Blowing baby blue smoke off to one side, Magnus leaned back down to the pipe with a quick glance at Taako before breathing in again.

Taako just held the pipe for him. He watched Magnus' big, wide-open eyes, his face that was soft beneath the sideburns and battle scars when you looked closely.

"So Lance, huh?" Lup said, startling Taako out of the silence and stillness he had just been lost in.

Taako jumped a bit. He leaned back and looked at Lup. As Magnus coughed out blue smoke, Taako asked, "What?"

Lup sprawled backwards a bit, wearing the mischievous look on her face that Taako didn't like when he didn't know what she was thinking. She nudged him with her shoe. "You're being pretty protective over that pipe, bro."

Knocking her foot away with his knee, Taako looked between Lup and Magnus with shock. "I don't  _ like _ him," He explained. He huffed out a breath and brought the pipe up to his face, before changing his mind. "I'm don't like—I'm not gonna do anything with any of the locals."

It seemed like Magnus was just staring at Taako, or maybe the pipe, but Lup looked up at the stars. They were extremely bright in this plane. "It's been six years," Lup said, and didn't elaborate.

"More like six and a half," Magnus clarified. He reached for the pipe, but Taako pulled it away and started to smoke again.

Taako heard Lup say, "Okay, no locals for Taako. Us, then. The team."

Taako started to cough and cough and cough. He was actually grateful that Magnus took the pipe, as he could barely prevent his insides from spilling out of his mouth, let alone concentrate on staying still. Taako coughed until the smirk on Lup's face became too much to bear. " _ What? _ "

"Come on," Lup goaded, "You wanna get down and dirty with Davenport?"

Taako choked on his own tongue for a moment before promising, " _ No _ . No I do not."

Lup laughed, probably louder than she should, and even Magnus chuckled before sucking some leftover smoke out of the maze of intertwining tubes. Lup was calm and cool as she said, "Magnus, then."

And all of a sudden Taako was anything but calm and cool. He was, he was...full of some emotion that he couldn't control, that spilled out of him as words: "No! Ugh, I wouldn't fuck Magnus if he was the  _ last _ person on earth."

Lup sat and stared at Taako, looking almost confused. 

Magnus nodded. "Good thing the feeling is mutual."

Taako's heart thumped. " _ Please _ , I know you want this." He shook his hands around a bit, panicked, and snatched the bong from Magnus. Taako almost took another inhale of funny blue smoke before thinking better of it and passing the pipe to his sister.

Lup held a large, steady flame against the small glass bowl of herbs as she inhaled for 3 seconds, 5, 7. Just when Taako started to feel out of breath, Lup turned her face to the sky, and blew out an array of perfect, quick smoke rings across the black and starry sky. 

Magnus slumped forwards, still keeping his eyes wide open, and it looked like it was taking way more effort than it should.

"You good there big guy?" Taako asked.

Magnus didn't answer, but said, "None of us should do anything with the locals." He blinked twice, hard, and strained to open his eyes again. "It's not fair."

Taako could barely think in words but he felt like he understood Magnus' point and agreed. "Well, maybe you'll convince me to change my mind one of these years."

Lup looked between them, adding an uncharacteristically small amount to the discussion. Magnus wordlessly took the pipe from her.

+

_ Cycle 10 _

"Fucking…of course!" Magnus raged, balling his stone of farspeech up in his fist and shaking it as he paced around the deck of the Starblaster. 

"Magnus—" Taako started to say.

"Of  _ fucking course _ I get stuck on this hell-planet with  _ you _ ." 

It was suddenly a little harder for Taako to breathe.  _ Oh _ . It surprised him that  _ that _ was what Magnus was focusing on, when the rest of their team was now missing on this strange, scary planet.

This world had no people, or at least none they could find. It was just covered in extremely diverse terrain, and constantly barraged by a range of extreme weather. They had flown over dust storms and dark clouds and tsunamis. Everyone other than Magnus and Taako had gone off to explore the quiet mountains for any sign of the light of creation, but it had been days since they were supposed to return, and days since they had answered their stones of farspeech. 

Magnus had chosen this moment to freak out about it. And he had chosen to freak out about the fact that he was stuck with Taako. 

_ Whatever _ , Taako told himself. He turned his attention back to the intense storm brewing in the distance. It looked bad. "Storm's on it's way," He said, and then turned to find Magnus glaring at him.

"We have to wait for them."

Taako glanced despondently at the mountain range they had watched their friends disappear into, knowing that they were lost now, to a storm or a mudslide or whatever. The anger in Magnus' face was scary, but the angry clouds threatening to destroy the final two of them was scarier, as they were the last two that could pilot the Starblaster safely to the next plane. If the other five were truly gone, Magnus and Taako had to keep themselves and the ship alive for almost a whole year. That could only happen if, before the storm tore apart the ship, they returned to the canyon Davenport had originally set them down in, protected from the lightning strikes plaguing the forests above.

Taako gauged the sight of the clouds in the distance. "We leave tomorrow morning." He went inside before Magnus got freaked out thinking about the rest of the year too.

+

_ Cycle 5 _

Lup shoved Taako out of the way and darted up the gang plank of the Starblaster.

"Hey!" Taako shouted. He ran after her, listening to her laugh and cackle. They bounded all the way up to the deck, bursting back out into the sunshine where Merle and Lucretia were relaxing on the deck.

"Will you kids slow down?" Merle grunted and turned his copy of _Pan-tastic __Clergydom_ up to the sun. "I'm spiritualizing here."

Lup ignored him, going up to them and leaning over their chairs. "Are Barry and Davenport back yet?"

Lucretia shook her head. "They're still talking to the locals."

Taako took two steps closer towards them, which was two steps closer to the door leading down inside the ship, and he froze. "Do you smell that?" He asked in a rush, eyes instantly connecting with Lup's. He could just detect the smell of food—food that waS burning.

"Where's Magnus?" Lup asked, sort of starting to panic like Taako was. 

They both bolted to the door closest to the galley. The smell grew stronger as Taako pushed Lup along through the skinny corridors, until it finally grew a bit smokey just outside the last door on the right. Lup slammed open the door, and Taako shoved himself into the doorway as well, so they could both survey the burnt-smelling scene.

"Holy fuck," Taako cursed. There were sacks of ingredients and utensils and dishes strewn across the counter. A tray of blackened food sat atop the oven, which was open and still spouting smoke. In the middle of it all, Magnus stood, looking defeated. 

"I was trying to cook—" Magnus started.

"Fuck! Code red! No, code black!" Lup hollered. "Code black, get out of here!"

Magnus' confusion turned towards panic—so Taako grabbed Lup. "Shut up!" He said.

"But—the codes—"

"You're scaring Magnus," Taako explained. He looked between Lup's upset and Magnus' concerned faces.

Magnus tried to say, "I'm not—"

"This is very fixable," Taako interrupted. "I'll clean it up." He wouldn't trust anyone else but Lup, who never did well dealing with other people's problems. Taako found himself surprisingly calm.

"I will help," Magnus promised. 

Lup glared at Taako. "But, but, the spoons—"

"I'll put the spoons back the way you like them," Taako explained as he ushered her out of the galley. He was relieved to hear her take a deep breath. He tried to breathe himself before re-entering the kitchen.  _ I could be fighting for my life against an extremely powerful, soulless evil. Cleaning the kitchen isn't  _ that  _ bad. _ "Let's go big guy—you aren't hurt or anything, right?"

"A tiny kitchen knife isn't gonna hurt me," Magnus proclaimed confidently. His arms were crossed tight over his chest.

Taako was not impressed with that attitude, not in his kitchen. "You cut your hand, didn't you?"

Magnus' brow furrowed a bit and he released his hands from under his arms, inspecting the back. He was uncharacteristically quiet, saying, "Just a little bit.”

"Let me see," Taako asked, and then, "Oh that's horrible," when he saw the makeshift bandage wrapped haphazardly around the cut. Taako removed it, pulled the hand over to the sink to rinse it, and then cast a quiet healing spell so it was as good as new in no time. 

Magnus mumbled a thank you.

Taako barely had to look up at him to meet his eyes. “Better?” He asked, even though he knew it was.

Magnus looked away and nodded. “I was just, cooking, I couldn’t remember—”

“It’s cool, big guy,” Taako said, leaning into his field of vision. “We all miss home.”

Magnus just stared at him.

“Alright. I’ll deal with the food. Throw everything else in the sink,” Taako instructed, and watched Magnus get to work expediently. He surveyed the dishes of black gunk, and then looked back at the large man gingerly setting glass bowls into the sink.  _ Cleaning the kitchen...definitely not that bad. _

+

_ Cycle 10 _

Magnus was doing what he usually did those days, sulking on the deck of the Starblaster with his stone of farspeech somewhere nearby, when Taako sauntered out of the cabin and set a plate down in front of him. For one second, and then another, Magnus looked like he had seen a ghost. With Taako sitting calmly next to him, he acted confused. “What’s this?”

“Well Magnus, these are called cinnamon buns.”

Taako watched Magnus swallow and stammer, “Why—I don’t—”

“The day you destroyed the kitchen wasn’t  _ that _ long ago,” Taako teased.

Magnus shook his head. “I was cooking.”

“Buddy, I’m a cook and a pastry chef, I know cinnamon buns when I see them.” He hadn’t expected Magnus to put up so much of a fight. He pushed the plate across the table a bit.

Magnus’ brow furrowed as he stared at the plate, at the 6 golden pastries waiting for him. 

“It’s okay,” Taako said, hearing himself talk in a softer tone now. “We all miss stuff from home.” It had been ten years. But he still couldn’t say  _ home _ without hurting over the world they’d lost for a second.

Taako was distracted when he realized Magnus was looking at him, and almost smiling. He smiled back. Magnus kept his gaze still.  _ Okay, weirdo, _ Taako thought. 

“Well I’ve been smelling this cinnamon for days and it’s driving me crazy, so.” Taako picked up a cinnamon bun and took a bite.  _ Nice _ .

Magnus finally took one for himself too. Taako felt like he shouldn’t watch him eat, like he usually did when people tried his food, but did anyways. Magnus made a  _ hm _ noise, and then said, “I’m not going to tell you how good they are because you already know.”

Taako actually chuckled. 

“Just…thank you.”

“Of course, buddy. Hey, it’s just you and me,” Taako explained, “Any requests and the chef is on it.”

Then they sat and ate cinnamon buns in the shadow of the canyon, listening to the lightning strike the forest above.

+

"Are you serious? Why didn't you lead with that?" Taako chided as he and Magnus trotted down the side of the canyon.

"I don't know, I just—"

"Okay, rewind, you're standing in the kitchen and you've made a huge mess," Taako instructed, "Me and Lup walk in. What do you say?"

Magnus sighed a bit and concentrated. They were almost at the floor of the canyon then, a stone's throw from the Starblaster's extended gangplank. "I'm sorry I made a huge mess," He started, and as Taako nodded him along, "My mom…used to bake me cinnamon buns and I miss them a lot?"

Taako started clapping as he jumped down into the dirt. "Yes! That was  _ beautiful! _ All is forgiven, can you believe?"

Magnus just rolled his eyes, unable to hide a tiny smirk. He entertained Taako's shenanigans more often now that they'd spent months together, alone. Taako entertained Magnus' too, even climbed out of the canyon to check if the stone of farspeech got better reception higher up with him. Every day.

"I didn't realize how late it's gotten," Magnus pointed out as they walked slowly towards the ship. Taako hadn't realized either, and looked straight up, seeing the blue sky turning pink with the sunset. He hummed. 

They walked in silence for the rest of the way, and Taako thought about what he was going to wear tomorrow. He had brought too many clothes to obey Davenport's rules about always wearing the uniform. Taako's red robe and jacket hadn't seen the light of day in a while, and he enjoyed the chance to forget about being on a team that wears a uniform and just be Taako, who wore whatever the fuck he wanted. It appeared that Magnus, on the other hand, hadn’t brought any clothes at all, and in Davenport’s absence just walked around shirtless most of the time. Yes, Taako was pleased no one was enforcing the dress code. 

Tonight, Magnus was wearing his jacket, so Taako just watched his feet as he climbed up the gangplank behind him. Magnus stopped on the deck of the Starblaster and just looked at the sky a bit. Taako stopped too, leaned around to inspect his strange behaviour, and then turned his head to the darkening sky as well. It would soon be black, and filled with billions of tiny stars packed so close together Taako thought they must be friends with each other.

Then, Magnus spoke so softly, Taako thought he might not have spoken at all. “I want to sleep under the stars.”

“Huh?” Taako replied instinctively to the sound, and then regretted it. He was too loud, too in-his-head for this strong-hearted man.

“I’ve always wanted to sleep under the stars,” Magnus said normally then. Looking around the ship, he explained, “Out here on the deck.”

It didn’t take Taako long to decide, “Magnus, that’s the best idea I’ve ever heard.”

+

Taako knew that Magnus was the last person on earth. 

But he started realize that it was just the two of them left in a new way, as they laid on the deck of the Starblaster under thick blankets and a thick curtain of stars. It was just Taako, next to just Magnus; there was no calling out for long-gone teammates through enchanted stones, no shadows threatening to devour them. Taako was way too comfortable wearing his favourite sweater, lying next to a man he was way too comfortable talking to. He’d never thought he’d bond with Magnus like this. Without an end to the run from the Hunger in sight, however, it must've been bound to happen eventually. 

“I can’t believe I left my mom behind,” Magnus told the stars quietly.

Taako looked over. After a moment, he said, “I’m sorry.”

Magnus rolled his head over too. He didn’t accept Taako’s words, just asked, “Who did you leave behind?”

Taako choked on air for a moment.

“I just…worry about everyone. We lost  _ so much _ .”

Feeling his heart thump, Taako nodded. “I mean, Lup and I didn’t really have anyone else.” He paused, thinking about life before the IPRE more than he had in a long time, and then thinking about thinking about that. Then, “Would you believe me if I said I'd always had a bad feeling about this trip?”

Magnus answered only with his eyes, wide and twinkling as they reflected the multitudes of stars above them. Taako realized he had rolled mostly onto his side, towards him.

Taako said, “It was almost a year before we left, it was only supposed to be three months…but I knew it was a good time to be alone. Broke up with my boyfriend. Told my friends I loved them. That kinda thing.”

“Wow,” Magnus said, very quiet. 

Taako shifted a bit, and then realized he’d shifted closer to Magnus.  _ Oh well _ . “Lup broke up with her boyfriend too. They had a fight, the morning before the press conference.”

“Wow,” Magnus said again.

“So yeah,” Taako said, “Don’t worry about me. Yknow, I have Lup. Don’t worry about me.”

Magnus was quiet for a moment, and Taako waited for him, but he took his time. Taako wasn’t even sure if they were still talking about the same thing when Magnus finally broke the silence again. “I think we have each other now.”

Taako had a lump in his throat, and he tried to swallow it. “Yeah, we do.”

“I—I mean,” Magnus started, suddenly louder and more present in a way that killed the innocent sleepover mood. “All of us, have each other. The team.”

_ Oh.  _ Taako thought he might make a joke to break the awkwardness Magnus had just introduced into the conversation, but didn’t, and just nodded a bit. He was staring at Magnus. He rolled a bit closer, and then looked up at the stars. Taako let the awkwardness dissipate in the silence. He breathed the cool, fresh canyon air and pulled his blanket closer to his body. “This was a good idea,” He reiterated.

Magnus waited a long time before saying, "Thank you." Taako offered a look that was sufficiently confused enough to prompt Magnus to start stammering, "For being… You—… I didn't think we would survive this long, just the two of us."

Taako gave him a big smirk; he earned it. "Me either, buddy."

Magnus stared at Taako; it felt like he was still trying to figure him out, even though they had figured out how to not kill each other so far. They had gotten surprisingly close, and Taako felt surprisingly fond of the rough but kind man he had known for over ten years. They were surprisingly close, physically, in that moment they were lying very close together. Taako's heart beat a bit off-rhythm. There was nothing in Taako's brain but how lovely this moment was, this man he was sharing it with. 

One millisecond, Taako decided what to do, and the next millisecond, he was doing it. He was leaning over to close the very small gap between him and Magnus and pressing a kiss on his mouth. He held it for a second, to let it stick, and when Taako realized Magnus was frozen against him, he pulled away.

Taako pulled his hands into his body as he looked at Magnus, who seemed mostly just surprised. "I'm sorry," Taako spat.  _ Fuck _ . 

He had started to shift away from him when Magnus said, "It's okay."

Taako froze. He glanced back over. 

Magnus was staring up at the stars. "I need a minute."

" _ Okay _ ," Taako whispered, and settled not too close but not much farther either. He didn't watch Magnus, but could tell when he brought his hand up to touch his mouth where Taako had just kissed him.  _ Fuck _ . Then he thought,  _ This is bad. I'm gonna die here after all. _

Taako almost jerked away when he felt a touch, but relaxed when he realized Magnus was just putting his hand over top of Taako's. The touch, the feeling of Magnus' giant warm hand over Taako's spindly one, it made his throat dry and head run wild a bit. 

Magnus tightened his grip on Taako, and then loosened it. Then he said, "Do you want to do that again?"

Taako looked over and he was already nodding. Magnus was leaning in, pulling Taako's hand, so Taako wasted no time pressing another kiss to Magnus' lips. 

It was solid and soft. It felt so good, so right, to  _ finally  _ be doing this. It had been years. It had been months. It felt so right to be doing this then, with Magnus. Taako pressed his mouth in deeper, his pointy chin brushing along Magnus’ beard. He kissed him again, and again, feeling Magnus lying so close to him, kissing him back, holding onto his hand for dear life. Pulling him closer. Taako let himself get lost in the blankets and Magnus’ hair, touching his face and leaning on him as they kissed.

There was a moment when they both paused against one another, and then broke apart. Taako caught his breath. Magnus was looking at him, still holding him close. Taako asked, “Was that okay?” He brushed a shaggy curl out of Magnus’ face.

“Yeah, it—” He stopped, and then cleared his throat. “It was…good.”

Taako’s heart warmed a degree. He felt like that was a massive understatement, like he could fly, like he would live for a million years. But he didn’t say that. He tried not to smile at Magnus and said, “Yeah, it was.” And before he could stop himself he tucked his face into Magnus’ neck and shifted right up against him. He wasn’t sure what had just happened, and he wasn’t going to count on it happening again. Taako decided to just be still and enjoy the memory of it while he could. Feeling Magnus tighten his arms around his body, Taako could see white threads spinning around them when he closed his eyes.

They laid still and quiet for so long, Taako thought Magnus had fallen asleep when his gruff voice spoke up once more, "Do you want to do that again?"

+

The rest of the year passed in a haze of pale red, the walls of the canyon and Magnus’ hair, as they lazed around the ship having given up hope of finding their friends or the light. They opted instead to sleep in, kiss, touch each other, bake and cook and watch the baking and cooking with small smiles. Some days Taako felt like he was buzzing with unused magic, missing his sister to spar with and a journey to fight through. Other days were so red, they made Taako feel rusty, tired, and thankful that Magnus was content to hug him from behind and enjoy the sun together.

At night they would hole up in one of their darkened bedrooms, kiss until their lips hurt and wonder out loud if they were only doing this because they were lonely. Taako started to tell Magnus he loved him. He didn’t know in what capacity or kind, and he tried to explain as much, but he knew that he meant it. “I love you,” was the only thing Taako could whisper that he was sure of those days, in the pale red haze. It was so good to be close and quiet in the dark together. Magnus seemed to think so too. He seemed to like Taako’s face near his, Taako’s hand pulling him around the ship, Taako’s words in his ears. He somehow always knew when Taako just wanted to be wrapped up in his arms. It was good, and it was love, and they were happy, but all those words they tried to say about it sort of felt like a massive understatement.

+

“Tell me the one about the evil merchant,” Taako asked as he pulled Magnus around the deck of the Starblaster in a close, lazy, slow dance. 

Magnus just sort of smiled and asked back, "Again?"

Taako nodded. "It's my favourite," He said, and squeezed one of Magnus' shoulders.

Still smiling, Magnus sighed. "Once upon a time, there was a little town with a little merchant's shop."

Taako felt Magnus' feet slow, but he kept guiding him around the deck, swaying back and forth as they held each other.

"The merchant employed a nice girl named Esther. And I thought Esther was quite attractive, so I went to the shop. Every. Day," Magnus said, making Taako giggle at how he poked fun at himself. "I noticed that I was falling in love with her. But since I bought something every time I visited, I noticed something else too."

Taako prepared for the plot twist he'd heard a hundred times with anticipation written on his face. He held fast around Magnus' shoulders.

"The merchant was a liar and a cheat."

Taako gasped.

Magnus smiled and shook his head, making Taako happy to fluster him. "I  _ know _ ," He empathized. "The merchant was selling fake goods, and he had been swindling everyone in town out of their hard-earned money for years. One day I went to see Esther and some of my neighbours were there confronting the merchant."

Taako just watched Magnus' face now, happy to be swaying in his strong arms and to know how the story ends.

Magnus said, "Out of nowhere, the merchant drew his sword. So I grabbed my axe and dueled him right in his own shop. I fought him until he agreed to leave town and never come back."

Taako was smiling, about to comment on Magnus' heroism, when the story continued.

"And as the duel was ending," Magnus said, his grasp on Taako tightening and shifting a bit, "Esther was knocked backwards, and I caught her like  _ this _ ." Magnus instantly swung Taako down until he was almost horizontal, cradled in his arms. 

Taako's heart was pounding through the shock and  _ excitement _ over what was happening—what  _ was  _ happening?  _ I've never heard this part of the story before. _

"And I kissed her like this," Magnus explained.

Taako let himself be lifted up so his face met Magnus' in a strong kiss, clumsy and passionate with how they clung to each other. Taako's hands tensed on his shoulders as his lips pressed up against Magnus'. Magnus was surrounding him, holding him and kissing him so deeply Taako felt like he was on a totally new plane of reality where nothing existed except the two of them and these feelings. 

Magnus ended the kiss gently, and then lifted Taako up. In a rush of flexing muscles and wind through Taako’s hair, he was back on his feet, clutched tight against Magnus’ body. Taako smirked. “My hero.”

Magnus seemed a bit flustered, and looked down. Taako just took one of his hands and started leading him around in a dance against, coaxing his clunky feet to and fro. “Hm,” Magnus hummed as his toe knocked against Taako’s boot.

“If  _ I _ worked for an evil merchant,” Taako posed, grabbing Magnus’ attention, “Would you visit me every day and fall in love with me?”

“Of course I would.”

Taako stared at him. They slid together across the deck, hands clenched together.

“There wasn’t much else to do, the town was tiny,” Magnus said, now joking and jovial though he had just been deeply sincere. Taako took a second to start giggling along, still appreciating the sentiment. He leaned in and kissed Magnus. Magnus kissed back, and before long they stopped sliding and swaying, and just held each other, kissing on the deck of the Starblaster.

+

Taako trusted Magnus. He trusted him to be strong but kind, to eat whatever Taako placed in front of him, to get them both back to the ship safe and sound whenever they ventured off of it. Taako trusted himself, too...mostly.

That should have been all that mattered, in this reality where it was literally just the two of them. 

But Taako didn’t trust the universe. He didn’t trust the planes, in all he had learned over the years of researching and exploring them. He didn’t trust the black shadows that attacked all the time. He didn’t trust whatever was beyond what they could see, moving and working in ways to make them suffer that their elf and human and dwarf brains couldn't understand. 

Taako wished he could approach the end of their year on this crazy, terrible planet with grace and dignity (because those were ALWAYS his strong points), but he didn’t trust the universe not to ruin this spot of happiness he had found—they had found.

So Taako had to ask, one night near the end, when they were out sleeping under the stars again. He was under a mountain of blankets, while Magnus just had one, and they laid on their backs, holding hands, staring up at the sky.

“What's gonna happen when we leave?” Taako asked, not quiet enough to be unintentional.

Magnus was breathing so quiet, Taako couldn’t hear it. There was no sound. Magnus didn’t move an inch, didn’t make a single noise. Taako waited and strained to hear him answer, but time passed and passed…

Until Taako knew what Magnus wasn’t saying. It washed over him softly, with the sound of the wind far away, slowly sinking in that the answer was nothing. Nothing was going to happen once they left. They couldn’t keep doing this once they were back with the others, in a bright new world. It was over; how could Taako have thought it  _ wouldn’t _ be over? It washed over and over Taako, until the knowledge made him ache and hurt.

"I'll protect you. I'll never watch you die again," Magnus said, holding Taako’s hand even tighter.

That did not make Taako feel better. "And, how—how many times are you gonna make me watch you die?"

Magnus took another moment to think about that, apparently. Taako really caught him off guard with that one. He didn’t expect Taako to fight back, did he? He didn't think— 

Magnus said, “As many as it takes to stop this thing."

Just like that, Taako remembered the millions of people that had been swallowed by the shadows, the thousands of people living on the next world they would visit, and the 5 people they would share the Starblaster with once again in a few days time. He pulled his hand away from Magnus.

Taako remembered that they weren’t the only two people in existence, and he felt very, very lonely. 

+

The way the colour drained from the world made Taako's stomach uneasy. He looked up at the graying sky from the deck of the Starblaster and felt like shit, seeing the clouds hanging motionless above, knowing the evil darkness would be descending soon. It felt right that Taako had shrugged on his red robe and jacket that morning. He was this person again. He had to worry about this fucking ridiculousness again. 

"Magnus!" He yelled back into the cabin of the ship. "Come check this out!" Taako picked lint off his sleeves and adjusted his wand in his pocket, trying to remember how it used to feel as he waited for Magnus. When the lumbering steps alerted him that he was almost here, Taako looked up. Magnus proceeded slowly out of the cabin, staring at Taako. Taako felt started at. "What do you think?" He asked.

"Uh—you—what?" Magnus stammered.

Taako jerked his head at the sky and then looked up.

"Oh. Right,” Magnus said behind him. He sighed a bit. "Uh. Let's, let's just get out of here." 

Taako looked at him, wondering if he might change his mind.

Magnus looked away. His head was hanging. "I know you miss Lup," He said weakly, and went back inside.

Taako didn't know what to say or how to say it, so he just piloted the Starblaster out of the canyon and out of the atmosphere, with one eye watching Magnus standing sentry outside the helm. 

+

_ Cycle 11 _

Lup looked at Taako with wide eyes that actually held a degree of awe or confusion, something Taako rarely saw, something he couldn't quite identify. He just knew she wanted answers, or an explanation or something, as she had coaxed Taako away from the rest of the IPRE reunion where Lucretia and Davenport were fussing over Magnus and Barry was arguing with Merle. 

"What?" Taako asked Kup.

She frowned a bit. She looked back, right at Magnus, and then turned back to Taako. She spoke quietly, "You and  _ Magnus _ survived a whole year alone?"

Taako swallowed all his feelings and mumbled, "Yeah."

Lup softened a bit. "Was it…hard?" She asked once she found the words.

Taako knew she was asking if it was hard to get along, if it was hard to avoid the dangers of the planet, and if it was hard to escape the black shadows. "Yeah," He lied, because it had only been hard for some very different, very sad reasons. He shrugged for good measure, to abate his lie.

Lup just stared at him, knowing there was something he wasn't telling her, because she always knew. Thankfully she didn't ask. She nodded and—very gently—punched Taako's shoulder. Then gave him a quick hug.  _ Ugh _ , Taako thought. He just wanted this to be over.

"If you'll excuse me," He said, "I'm going to go take a long nap."

"Of course bro, you earned it." Lup smiled a bit and it hurt Taako's chest. "I'll make you something nice—" Her face lit up, and she said, "I'll bake cinnamon buns."

Taako wondered if she would notice if he cast Blink right then. His whole body was stiff for a moment, before he heard himself spit out, "Nah, don’t do that…cupcakes would be great?”

Lup shook her head, bemused. “You got it, Taako. Go get some rest.”

Taako retreated, feeling kinda bad, but retreating nonetheless. He glanced back as he stepped into the cabin and saw Lup back amongst their friends—and Magnus staring in Taako’s direction.

He pulled the door shut firmly behind himself.

+

_ Cycle 12 _

“What about Magnus’ plan? Heading south?” Taako said.

Davenport spoke against it immediately, “No, Taako, the light is definitely in the north.”

“I agree with the captain,” Lucretia admitted.

Barry and Merle chimed in, saying, “Yeah,” and “It makes the most sense.”

Taako glanced at Magnus, who just looked tired and frustrated, and then he turned to the one person who would surely agree with him: Lup.

But his sister just shrugged. “Dav has a point.”

And so it was quickly decided that the team would split up. Davenport would take the ship to the northern mountains with Lup and Merle, Lucretia and Barry would explore the northern valleys, and Taako and Magnus would head south. 

It wasn’t the next year, after they had been stuck together, but the year after that, long after the team had stopped joking about “getting stuck with Magnus for a year” and “getting stuck with Taako for a year”. Apparently, it had been long enough that they all forgot about the planet with the crazy weather, because they had no problem kicking the two of them off the ship insisting they go look for the light together. Taako stood next to Magnus, on the ground, watching the Starblaster fly away. Taako watched, and watched, the sun hurting his eyes as it reflected off the brilliant silver hull.

Taako could tell that Magnus was looking at him. He didn’t want to look back. Taako tried and failed to swallow the lump in his throat, and then offered, “Let’s just get this over with.” He glanced over as he turned towards the south and tried not to feel bad at how Magnus was hanging his head.

+

It was a hard journey. It was long and hot, with villages and settlements rapidly growing smaller and sparser as they went. They traveled for months, asking locals about the light, searching for the place Magnus thought it might have fallen.

Taako would have liked to say they didn’t talk and they didn’t work together, but they  _ did. _ Taako knew he would go crazy without prattling on just a tad bit too much. He talked about recipes and spells and Lup just to fill the silence, and Magnus listened, pretending to be interested. He sometimes contributed what seemed like a measured explanation about stuff he liked, his weapons and shit. Taako didn’t ask him about his life. He’d heard all of Magnus' stories at least twice already.

And of course, they made a fine team. Maybe the ease was only because they were trying to get it over with, but Taako already knew how well they worked together.

They had left the Starblaster well into the year, and as the weeks passed Taako started consciously thinking about the effort to physically retrace their steps back up north. At every sunset, Magnus reported back to Davenport on his stone of farspeech, "No luck today, but I've got a good feeling about tomorrow." Over and over Taako heard these words, without any indication of stopping, or even slowing. Taako brought it up one day when they were departing from a village, still traveling south. “So, when do you think we’ll head back?”

Magnus glanced quickly at Taako, but was focused on navigating the rocky half-beaten path they were told to follow. “When we find the light,” He said, verging on sounding condescending, like Taako should definitely understand this.

Taako waited a moment to speak, avoiding almost tripping on a clump of skinny roots sticking up from the ground. Then he just stated, “We only have a couple months left, to find it and bring it back.”

“No,” Magnus said firmly, “We have two and a half months to find it, and then Davenport will bring the ship to us. Way faster.”

Taako didn’t want to say. He didn’t want to say it at all, but he had to. “ _ If _ we find the light.”

Magnus actually stopped to look him in the eye. “Taako, we’re  _ going _ to find it. I know I’m right.”

+

“So, you were wrong,” Taako pointed out, two months later, once they had overturned the last rock that Magnus swore the light would be hidden under. He looked across the small abandoned fort they had found in the deep, deep south of the main land mass on this planet. 

Magnus sighed and leaned his head back against the wall of woven tree branches. “I know.” He waited a long few seconds, as Taako watched beads of sweat form slowly on his forehead. The structure of branches and leaves provided shade and thus some relief from the sun, but they still couldn’t hide from the heat and humidity. Magnus said, “I’m sorry.”

“No, don’t apologize,” Taako pleaded, “It’s alright, big guy. We did our best.”

Magnus looked at him, and didn’t look away for a minute. Taako wondered if they would have found the light if it had been Magnus and Lup, not him. Magnus took out his small stone and tossed it around in his hand, before holding it up. "Magnus to Davenport, come in Davenport."

It took a couple seconds, but then the stone played sounds of shuffling and mumbling, and then Davenport's voice. " _ This is Davenport _ ."

Taako didn't realize it at first, but this report was so different from the reports all the days before, and it started when Magnus paused. In silence, there was an unnatural emptiness, and Taako didn't quite know why but it felt wrong.

"I'm sorry," Magnus said, sounding so  _ sad _ , and it was horrible. It was so far off from his optimistic tagline. Taako just looked at him, wishing he was hearing Magnus say what he had always said before so he could feel sick of it again, not sick to his stomach with sympathy for the poor guy.

" _ Hey, Magnus, it's okay, _ " Davenport started, reacting to how down Magnus sounded. " _ I think we're getting close. The sun's going down…but I've got a good feeling about tomorrow. _ "

Magnus smiled a bit, and Taako's heart lifted at the sight. "Thanks Dav," Magnus said.

" _ You boys take it easy. There's, uh, not much time left to come pick you up… _ "

"Don't worry about it," Magnus said. He glanced up at Taako, who nodded. They both knew it was a waste of the precious last few light-hunting days for Davenport to fly the ship down to bring them on board, given they would end up there one way or another. 

" _ You sure? _ "

"We're sure."

" _ Stay safe. We'll see you soon _ ."

+

The rest of the year passed in a haze of bright green, the leaves and trees surrounding the abandoned lean-tos they stayed near. There was no point venturing too far in any direction anymore. They sat amongst the plants, relying on spells for food, water, and a cool breeze. 

To pass the time, Magnus hummed a whole record of songs, some Taako knew and some he didn’t, while carving the bark off branches with his knife. Now and then, Taako offered to braid Magnus’ hair to keep it up off his neck, and he always said yes. He sat behind him and twisted and tied his hair slowly, as Magnus held a stick still in his hands. Simple, meaningless tasks filled their time until the end of the year—the end of the world.

They laid down to sleep on opposite sides of a small stick structure for the last time, just like every other night for the past couple weeks, except this time Magnus spoke and broke the silence.

“I wish we could sleep under the stars again.”

Taako shivered as his brain overreacted to that statement. That wasn’t...an opening, was it? That wasn’t a gentle reminder of their brief time together…was it? It took a lot of self-control to stop himself from raising his wand and burning a hole in the forest canopy so he could give Magnus his wish. He settled for rolling over, closing the space between them halfway.

Magnus looked over. 

Taako lost his nerve, and just stared at him.

Magnus barely whispered, “I’m sorry.”

“You already—”

“About what happened to…us.”

_ Oh...oh. _ Taako stomach turned, in a good or bad feeling he wasn’t sure yet. “You don’t have to apologize.”

Magnus didn’t say anything else, which made Taako think he really meant it. He rolled and shifted a bit.

It was so dark where they slept, but Taako’s pale blue skin was still just visible when he raised his hand up. He watched it, avoiding Magnus’ eyes, as he pushed some strands of pale red hair back into the braid. 

Taako moved his hand slowly down and watched it slowly too, not daring to look up. 

Magnus shifted in place and the noise startled Taako’s eyes up. 

Then it was so obvious, he saw it before it happen so plainly, and yet did nothing to stop him; Magnus leaned in and softly kissed him.

Taako was so  _ sad _ . 

It was so lovely and sweet; it was so  _ sad _ that it was happening on this fucking planet with this fucking person at this fucking time, at whatever time or day or year it was really happening. 

He barely kissed Magnus back, but he still did, because there was nothing he wanted more than to kiss and kiss and kiss him. Taako tried to think about nothing, or anything other than kissing Magnus. They were both reluctant to pull away, but it happened eventually, like tides rolling out gradually until the waves no longer crashed against the rocks. 

Magnus couldn’t look at Taako for more than a second before his face twisted with emotion and he tucked his head down to his chest. Taako’s heart ached. He slowly wrapped his arms around Magnus’ body and laid his face against his hair. “I know,” He said.  _ I’m sorry too _ , He didn’t say. “It’s okay,” He said. Taako kept whispering until they both fell asleep.

+

When heroes have nothing to do during the end of the world, they stay in bed. They stay in bed and stay in each other’s arms, growing sweaty with the slow heat of the morning, but unmotivated to move with the apocalypse around the corner.

They don’t want to let go of this moment, this last world where it can exist.

They roll around and stretch, but stay close by, and lay on the ground and stare at each other.

They stay in their beds with their hands locked together until their bodies dissolve into white threads. And they are gone.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks so much for reading! Leave me a kudos or comment or BOTH if you think I should get a tattoo that says "no dogs on the moon". 😍💖


End file.
